Wheel bearing and suspension question.
07-06-2008, 02:57 PM
#1
Staging Lane
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Wheel bearing and suspension question. Recently i bought a 2000 z28 about a month ago that has 60k miles on it 6 spd. I've been driving it a lot on some rough highways from time to time. Recently when driving the car feels kind of like a boat even on a straight road where it feels like it will move side to side not turning but like the suspension has weight on it. Not only that but the car makes a weird humming noise when i make a sharp left turn sounds almost like a roar. I rotated the tires hoping it would fix it but it didn't. Does this sound like the shocks and the right rear wheel bearing are bad?
07-07-2008, 06:03 PM
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Recently i bought a 2000 z28 about a month ago that has 60k miles on it 6 spd. I've been driving it a lot on some rough highways from time to time. Recently when driving the car feels kind of like a boat even on a straight road where it feels like it will move side to side not turning but like the suspension has weight on it. Not only that but the car makes a weird humming noise when i make a sharp left turn sounds almost like a roar. I rotated the tires hoping it would fix it but it didn't. Does this sound like the shocks and the right rear wheel bearing are bad?
07-09-2008, 04:38 PM
#3
wierd humming noise / roar when turning sharp left- that may be rear differential if you have a torsen. the torsen is all gears and if the fluid was changed and no limited-slip additive (friction modifier) was used then it can be noisy in slow tight turns, and that is normal by the way and doesn't hurt anything. On the other hand if the rear diff. fluid was never changed then that might be a reason for the noise if it's the auburn differential which has clutchpacks which does require limited-slip additive in the oil, and that additive will wear out over time requiring periodic oil changes. figure out which differential you have, you might be able to tell by vin #. having just bought the car with 60 miles on it, changing the rear diff. oil would be a +.
car also pulls hard right- i doubt the rear axle bearings will have anything to do with that. that's more likely caused by the front end out of alignment, especially "having driven it on some rough highways". It can also be a front wheel bearings, and you might be able to tell by jacking the front up and spinning each wheel by hand, at least do that first cause it's free but you'll probly should get front end alignment checked. Also look at how the front tires have worn, that can tell you the front is out of alignment.
car also pulls hard right- i doubt the rear axle bearings will have anything to do with that. that's more likely caused by the front end out of alignment, especially "having driven it on some rough highways". It can also be a front wheel bearings, and you might be able to tell by jacking the front up and spinning each wheel by hand, at least do that first cause it's free but you'll probly should get front end alignment checked. Also look at how the front tires have worn, that can tell you the front is out of alignment.
07-09-2008, 10:13 PM
#4
Lift the front of the vehicle up. Grab the tire at the 3:00 and 9:00 position and wiggle it. If you have any play there, then check your inner / outer tie rods. Check the inner by putting your hand on it while moving the wheel. You will feel if it has any play. Check the outer tie rod by squeezing it with a pair of channel locks and see if you have any play. If it is bad enough, you will be able to see it while wiggeling the wheel, and won't even need the channel locks.
Now grab the wheel at the 12:00 and 6:00 position. If you get any play from there, it is the hub bearing starting to fail. All are very easy to fix in the driveway. Roaring noise coming when you turn a certain way more than likely is a wheel bearing
Now, use the channel locks and squeeze the ball joints. Keep constant pressure on them, and with a pry bar, pry between the ball joint and the lower a-arm. Keeping constant pressure with the channel locks will ensure that you don't mis-diagnose it. If you don't do that, sometimes you won't even feel any play. Be careful not to pry against the boot and tear it. Water and crap will get in there and cause pre-mature failure. If you feel any play there, then the ball joint either needs greased up, or replaced, depending on the amount of play that you find. If you need any more info or detail, just let me know..
Now grab the wheel at the 12:00 and 6:00 position. If you get any play from there, it is the hub bearing starting to fail. All are very easy to fix in the driveway. Roaring noise coming when you turn a certain way more than likely is a wheel bearing
Now, use the channel locks and squeeze the ball joints. Keep constant pressure on them, and with a pry bar, pry between the ball joint and the lower a-arm. Keeping constant pressure with the channel locks will ensure that you don't mis-diagnose it. If you don't do that, sometimes you won't even feel any play. Be careful not to pry against the boot and tear it. Water and crap will get in there and cause pre-mature failure. If you feel any play there, then the ball joint either needs greased up, or replaced, depending on the amount of play that you find. If you need any more info or detail, just let me know..
07-10-2008, 10:10 PM
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Lift the front of the vehicle up. Grab the tire at the 3:00 and 9:00 position and wiggle it. If you have any play there, then check your inner / outer tie rods. Check the inner by putting your hand on it while moving the wheel. You will feel if it has any play. Check the outer tie rod by squeezing it with a pair of channel locks and see if you have any play. If it is bad enough, you will be able to see it while wiggeling the wheel, and won't even need the channel locks.
Now grab the wheel at the 12:00 and 6:00 position. If you get any play from there, it is the hub bearing starting to fail. All are very easy to fix in the driveway. Roaring noise coming when you turn a certain way more than likely is a wheel bearing
Now, use the channel locks and squeeze the ball joints. Keep constant pressure on them, and with a pry bar, pry between the ball joint and the lower a-arm. Keeping constant pressure with the channel locks will ensure that you don't mis-diagnose it. If you don't do that, sometimes you won't even feel any play. Be careful not to pry against the boot and tear it. Water and crap will get in there and cause pre-mature failure. If you feel any play there, then the ball joint either needs greased up, or replaced, depending on the amount of play that you find. If you need any more info or detail, just let me know..
Now grab the wheel at the 12:00 and 6:00 position. If you get any play from there, it is the hub bearing starting to fail. All are very easy to fix in the driveway. Roaring noise coming when you turn a certain way more than likely is a wheel bearing
Now, use the channel locks and squeeze the ball joints. Keep constant pressure on them, and with a pry bar, pry between the ball joint and the lower a-arm. Keeping constant pressure with the channel locks will ensure that you don't mis-diagnose it. If you don't do that, sometimes you won't even feel any play. Be careful not to pry against the boot and tear it. Water and crap will get in there and cause pre-mature failure. If you feel any play there, then the ball joint either needs greased up, or replaced, depending on the amount of play that you find. If you need any more info or detail, just let me know..
07-11-2008, 08:33 AM
#6
haha, used to do it for a living. Walked away and trying to find a new career now. Couldn't deal w/ a drunk boss 2+ hours late, customers pissed because of him, unsafe / health risk work enviroment, tools dissapearing, etc. Not worth my time. I work on cars for side $$ now, lol. It all worked out though, after I left, the other 2 mechanics left due to the crap and now my boss works alone and is probably gunna close up. karma's a bitch. But onto your question....
Sometimes they can be hard to diagnose. First I do a test drive and try to exactly locate wheather the noise is coming from the front of the car or the rear. If that can't be done, lift the back of the car up so both wheels are off the ground, and wiggle the wheel the same as you would the front ones. you should get no play that way, if you do, it's time to fix now or really really soon.
You can also pull / push the wheel towards and away from you. This can tell you if c-clips are getting messed up. Now there will always be some play in any rear end when tugging on it like that. You kinda have to have a feel for that one to know if it's excessive or not. This isn't the best way to explain it, but if it feels like you are moving it more than a 1/16 of an inch (trust me, you probably can't even see it move that little) it's fine. Anything more, needs checked out furthur. You have to tug on some bad ones and good ones to get a feel for it, hard to explain on the net, lol.
Warped rotor, when you are driving and apply the brakes lightly, you will feel a pulsing in the steering wheel. Or you have to set up a dial indicator on the rotor and slowly spin the rotor on something that spins tru. Watch the needle as the rotor moves. If it's warped, the needle will move however many thousands of an inch the rotor is warped. If you do hear a noise in the back and suspect it's a wheel bearing, spin the wheel w/ the brakes on it. If the noise is still there, pull the brakes off and put the tire on and spin it again. This will eliminate any chance that the brakes are grinding. Also, pull the wheel and see if you can wiggle the axle and see if there is any play. Hope some of this helps....